Born to Live
by misswhatsoever
Summary: „So, that's your method? Threatening a woman to marry you?" He stood right before her, closing the last bit of her well built distance as he reached out to capture her chin between his cold fingers, forcing her to look him in the eye. „I always get what I want, Sakura…"
1. New Era

In the middle of a giant battlefield fought a powerful shinobi, fighting against the enemies which tried to invade his homeland.  
His armor was shining in the dim sunlight and was covered in deep red blood and no one could tell whose it was.

All those loud screams of terror and pain felt like a horrible curse within the battle smoke, followed by loud clashes of kunais and swords which were aiming to kill mercilessly.  
Seeing became harder because of the thickening, gray fog surrounding the ninjas, feeling like a suffocating curtain that stole the breath out of everyone's lung.  
Countless jutsus were spoken while the leader of the army kept on fighting to protect his people, no matter how exhausted he was.

How many hours passed since this fight begun? The shinobi didn't know, and he didn't find the will to care.  
Despite his morals, he did good in turning off every human emotion within his heart, throwing away his guilt with every life he took during this war.  
Killing became a mechanical process which became even more monotone a few hours ago.  
No exhaustion, no guilt, no fear was clouding his mind for he knew that human emotion was nothing but pure luxury that he could not possess, much less afford.  
This was a battle and he had to do anything to protect his people and to keep his homeland safe, no matter what…

"AAAAH!"

The fighter stopped in his tracks when he heard the familiar voice, green eyes full with worry and when he saw it, her breathing stopped immediately.  
His silver-haired sensei was lying on the ground with blood covering his entire body while his armored enemy was standing over him, his sword risen and ready to strike.  
Green eyes widened full of shock and barely a second later, the leader reacted.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

As if devil was after him, the shinobi ran while making sure to counter every attack and dodge every weapon without turning his gaze from Hatake Kakashi.  
His heart was racing like crazy when the enemy swung his sword for the kill, making the ninja scream like he never did before in his life.

"**NOOOOOO!**"

Metal clashed against metal and the leader blocked the sword with his kunai, stopping the deadly attack just in time. Green eyes narrowed in desperation for his opponent was more than strong, making the leader's hand shake after a few seconds.  
"Careful! Behind you!"  
Kakashi's voice was full of desperation, his coal eyes widened when he saw the second ninja leashing at his student from behind, hating the fact that he was no longer able to move!  
The leader -who just beat his opponent and wasn't able to focus- turned his head, green eyes blank with shock when the attacker formed several hand seals.

"AAAAAAAAAH!"  
The leaders body was suddenly tied up without being able to find a way to get free, no matter how hard he tried.  
_No. No, dammit! _  
"LET ME **GO**!"  
"I will after I kill you.", the enemy promised, a devilish smirk touching his lips.

He pulled out his kunai, aiming for the leader's head who was now sure that his life would end right here and now…

"RASENGAN!"  
-If it weren't for the blond haired shinobi that ended the attack with his favorite jutsu.  
"Hey! Are you guys alright?!"

Backs touching, both ninjas stood before their sensei, watching carefully at their surroundings and making sure that no one would sneak behind Kakashi.  
As one of the most powerful ninja from Timea, Hatake Kakashi had many enemies which was the reason why it was so hard for him to fight during a battle without being horribly injured.

"Yeah… Thanks, Naruto.", the silver haired shinobi panted.  
"Well, it looks like I made it in time, dattebayo!"  
"Yes. Yes, you did."

Two best friends narrowed their eyes, making their selves ready to end this war.  
They would win. No matter what happened, Timea was not to be destroyed and the leader and the jinchuriki would rather die than giving up their homeland…

.

….….….

"Hey… Come on, you should rest, Sakura."  
Tenten was worried about the pink haired kunoichi who stood right before the flickering flames of the campfire, looking with a passive look at the golden and red colors as if she was… dreaming.  
"Hm? Ah… no, we have to find something to eat first. I'm okay, really-"  
"No, I asked Kakashi Sensei and Rin Sensei to do it. Your leg's still bleeding, you need to take care of yourself and rest.", Tenten pleaded, he hazel eyes full of worry over Sakura's health.  
"Alright… Thanks, Tenten."  
Knees weak and shivering, the young Haruno managed to sit down and was more than relieved for no longer having to stand and just relax for a while.

"Hey Sakura…", a blond shinobi grinned at her who didn't ask when he lowered himself right beside her, being careful with his hurting arm Ino took care of earlier.  
_He was… happy. No, that was an understatement for Naruto was literally __**beaming**_ _with joy._

Haruno Sakura was a 21 year old woman and the blond's best friend.  
The young kunoichi owned long, fluffy hair which shined just as pink as cherry blossom trees during spring and eyes greener than emerald.  
Her slightly tanned skin and full lips made her appear like an exotic beauty and the shinobi almost laughed about that.  
_  
Because who would think that this small woman would be the leader of a whole army?  
_  
"Your leg…"  
Both ninja looked at the bloody fabric of her upper leg which covered the painful injury she tried to hide from her comrades, however, Naruto was not to be fooled that easily.  
"Oh… Right."  
Sakura ripped the fabric of her pants and took a good look at her wound, swallowing when she saw the dark blood liquid coming out from the deep gash.  
It was almost impossible to keep on fighting with a cut like this but Sakura had to admit that she didn't really feel the pain until the fight ended.

"Oh, that's… nothing, really. It barely hurts.", she lied, knowing that Naruto saw right through her lie but didn't say anything about it.  
Instead, he took the medicine he got from Tenten and Kiba and spilled the green, thick liquid right over her bleeding injury, making Sakura hiss from the sudden, burning pain.  
"I'm sorry, Sakura…"  
"It's okay, really.", she just brushed off. "I'm good now. Thanks, Naruto."  
Feeling relieved, Sakura sighed deeply and looked to the dark sky covered by shining, small stars.

"We won the fight, Naruto. Nothing but the end of the world could upset me now."  
Even though the fight was gruesome and horrible, even though they had to kill too many ninja, they won. Every hour of hard training finally payed off in the shape of delicious victory, regardless if they wanted a war or not.  
_Timea, their homeland was still free without being threatened by anyone.  
_  
"Do you regret it?"  
Sakura blinked a few times and looked at the jinchuriki, who appeared to be more serious than she was used to.  
"Do you regret building the army?"  
His short but reasonably question caught her off guard but that didn't stop her from giving him the one and only answer.

"No."  
That didn't surprise the fox ninja.  
"Do _you_?"  
"Hell no, dattebayo!", Naruto said enthusiastically.  
"After everything we did to come that far, I'm not gonna regret a thing! We kicked their asses and I'm damn happy about it!"

. .

_The story of the two best friends started with Haruno Sakura._

_Too many years ago, the young kunoichi lived with her funny father and her beautiful mother in a small village, being happy and loved. There was absolutely nothing Sakura missed, she was so incredibly happy that… it shouldn't surprise anyone that it ended so horribly.  
Anyway, Timea had no hokage and no army. The land was politically empty, a place where only the strong survived and the weak died._

_Her parents, however, grounded the first army of Timea and took care of literally everything.  
The army wasn't very big but shinobi from Timea were incredibly talented, strong willed and very skilled. The Haruno's were the reason why Timea wasn't invaded, they were the reason why_ _many shinobi fought together to protect their homeland and for that, Sakura was so proud of her parents._

_However, they were killed nine years ago._

_Her parents came back from a hard fight and she didn't need to be a kunoichi to see how exhausted they were. Sakura remembered how she fall asleep with her mother and father, sharing one last peaceful memory with them before the unthinkable happened.  
Enemies stormed into their cottage and attacked, knowing how tired and exhausted the Haruno's were. Her mother hid her barely awake daughter, kissing her cheek, her forehead, her hair while whispering her last words into her ear.  
'I'm sorry, sweetheart. You have to be strong, Sakura, you will survive and you will find someone who will love you just as much as we love you…'_

_She became an orphan in the age of 12 and lived in the streets since.  
For two years, she was seen as scum, a lowlife with no future or worth.  
Sakura was pushed around by others, being too sad over her parents death to even think about fighting back… She actually wanted to die and reunite with them I the afterlife._

_There was nothing like mercy when she stole bread or water to survive.  
She didn't care to count how many times someone punished her for stealing, even if it only was one slice of bread or water._

_One day, she decided that it was enough.  
The pinkette was tired to being pushed around by everyone, she was sick_ _of being so weak and helpless. The time had_ _come to stop feeling sorry for herself because her parents taught her how to defend herself, they wouldn't want her to die like this._

_The problem was that Sakura possessed no chakra._

_She was not able to learn a single jutsu and even though she was interested in healing, she was only able to heal small injuries, not even_ _her own.  
And that really annoyed her because self healing would've been so helpful that time…  
The Haruno didn't know why nor had their parents, but she did not own chakra to practice jutsus at all, even though her parents were incredibly powerful ninja._

_That's why she started to perform her own tai-jutsu so she could at least surprise her opponents which worked out quite_ _well, to be honest.  
Not only that, Sakura learned that you don't need a single jutsu to be strong enough to defend yourself against enemies…_

_The pink haired leader_ _remembered how she met Naruto.  
She remembered everything about that day because she knew that she would've died miserably without her blond best friend…_

_._

_She was_ _14 year old back then and Sakura will never forget those dark hours, probably the darkest in her life without her parents.  
The young girl was walking through the dark streets, looking for something to eat, something to __**drink**__. She was facing death and she was too weak to be scared.  
Never in her life had Sakura been so close to death._

_Her entire body was hurting from hunger and thirst, especially the latter.  
For two days she wasn't able to drink water and Sakura felt er intestines burn from horrible thirst. Dehydrated wasn't even close to describe how she felt for Sakura felt literally empty.  
Walking was something that felt like the hardest challenge, almost as hard as breathing._

_She was hungry.  
No, even worse.  
She was __**thirsty**__.  
Sakura needed water more than air..!_

_Praying that it would rain soon, Sakura wanted to cry which was impossible for her.  
She was too_ _weak to cry, dammit, she would've __**drank**_ _her tears with a smile in her lips!  
She tried to wet her lips but her tongue was just as dry and did nothing to help._

_She staggered father, her will to survive still flaming in her dry body for she hoped for a miracle that would save her miserable life…_

_"Hello, pretty girl."  
Her staggering stopped and Sakuras lifeless eyes looked at a boy, who just had to walk through the same alley. The 14 year old blinked weakly, barely registering his appearance.  
He seemed to have dark hair, but that was all she could see in the darkness._

_"What does a pretty girl such as you do in a dark alley, hm? At night no less…"_

_Sakura would've swallowed if she'd have enough spit to do so, but there was one thing for sure.  
This boy… was not a friend.  
That ninja was someone who'd want to hurt her, there was no mistake._

_His smirk spoke more than a thousand words and when he made the first step…  
Sakura knew that she had not the power to run away._

_The way he was eyeing her, how he took in her small frame didn't cover what he was trying to do to her. With her inexperienced age of 14, Sakura knew what terror was awaiting her. _

_The young girl tried to speak up, tried to say anything, but her throat felt like a dried lake, incapable of forming any words at all. _

_But when the male made his first steps to her direction, she felt panic rushing through her body which became even worse when she saw his grin turning into an evil smirk. _

_His eyes didn't even tried to hide the way he looked at her thin body that was shaking in fear for Sakura knew that this person would be her downfall. _

_Whatever he would try to do to her… _

_She wouldn't be able to stop him at all. _

_Not like this. _

"_I...I-I… have… t-to leave-", she barely managed to croak out and turned away, however, he didn't let her go off that easy and stopped her by holding her tiny wrist. _

"_Where are you going, beautiful? I could give you a few really good hours..."_

_Her heart pounded against her rib cage and for a moment the pinkette thought she'd just throw up. _

_If she just had her strength…_

_She swore, she would've beaten his sorry ass for even looking at her. _

"_N-No… Please, I-I… need t-to… leave-" _

_She tried to free herself with no effort for his grip became even firmer, already bruising her sensitive flesh. _

"_I'm sorry, honey. But I'm afraid you're too pretty for your own good." _

_Suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, her back hit the wall and Sakura's breath was knocked out of her dry lungs. Her body shook like leafes in the wind, her heart hammered in her chest when she felt absolute horror about what as to come. _

"_No… **No..!**" _

"_HEY!" _

_Three heartbeats later, the stranger was thrown off her and Sakura's eyes widened when she saw a blond male grabbing him by his collar before he smashed his body against the hard floor. _

_The blond savior threw the dark haired boy a dirty look, being more than disgusted by the scene he had to witness only seconds ago. He didn't even realize his eyes not being blue but blood red in color, his fury was so immense that he had no control over himself. _

"_You disgusting son of a bitch...", he bit out menacingly._

_The actually blue eyed shinobi didn't have to be a genius to know what he tried to do to that girl… _

"_Who… who are you-", the 16 year old boy groaned but when he realized the blond hair and demon eyes, he didn't even need his answer. He knew the name of the 16 year old savior. _

"_U-Uzumaki Naruto?!" _

"_Indeed." _

_Naruto was known for being the ninetails jinchuuriki and even if he hated the fact that people avoided him for just that, he was more than happy about him having the ability to scare people off. _

"_This was the first and only time you try doing this, Hojo." _

_Naruto knew that rich bastard but still wasn't afraid to threaten him. _

"_Not only will I tell everyone about this, next time I won't go easy on you.", he threatened. _

"_You'll be dead before you can even lay a finger on a girl ever again. Got it?!" _

_Hojo nodded hysterically, didn't look as strong and confident as he did minutes ago. _

_There were only a few fools in this land who dared challenging the jinchuuriki and Hojo didn't belong to those. _

"_Y-Yes! I promise, I will never… do this again!" _

_Hearing this, the disgusted ninja harshly let go of him, watching him running for dear life before he turned around to face the pink haired beauty he just saved. _

_Really, being a jinchuuriki really was handy sometimes… _

"_Are you okay?" _

_The tension left her body almost immediately when she heard his voice and before she could answer, her knees buckled and finally gave in. _

"_Hey!" _

_The fox ninja caught the girl, checking her to see if she was hurt. _

"_What happened to you? Can you hear me? Are you sick? Do you need something..?!" _

_She wanted to swallow but her throat was still too dry. _

"_Wa...ter...-"_

_Naruto's eyes widened as he understood her critical condition before he tightened his grip and ran to a certain direction. _

"_Don't worry, you will be okay again. Just hang in there, dattebayo!" _

_He carried her to a meadow over a hill only Naruto knew. Being forced to live on the streets, Naruto learned to fend for himself, having built his own, big tent with enough supplies to survive. He was a little older than her and being feared for being a monster, no one dared hitting or attacking him…  
Not anymore. _

"_There..." _

_He placed her on the floor right before his tent and Sakura could hear how he was looking for something. She didn't know exactly what, but to be honest… _

_She was just about to pass out and she stopped caring about everything. _

"_Here. Come on, drink this." _

_Her dull eyes opened when she realized his demand and Sakura tried. _

_She tried reaching out with her hand, tried taking the bottle but before she could even touch the object, her arm fell. Sakura had no energy left in her limb body. _

_Her body almost looked lifeless to the blond ninja..! _

"_No, no..! Come on, open your eyes, dattebayo!" _

_He hold her upper body up with his arm before he brought the bottle to her dry lips, making sure that the water would definitely enter her barely opened mouth. _

_When Sakura realized the cold, long-awaited wetness inside her mouth, her eyes widened and she begun drinking. _

"_There you go. Drink as much as you want, we have more than enough.", the shinobi smiled while he witnessed the life returning to her body. _

_Sakura drank faster, almost screaming of happiness when she felt the cold liquid feeling like molten gold in her throat. _

_Her body jerked and she begun coughing uncontrollably. _

_Understanding that she had drunk too fast, he carefully slapped her back and was more than relieved that she seemed to be okay again. _

_She calmed down again and turned to the blond ninja to thank him, but he put his hand on her shoulder and smiled kindly. _

"_Wait a minute, I'll be right back." _

_With those words, he left the now confused kunoichi who wondered why he went off so sudden. _

_._

.

.

_Naruto returned a few minutes later and made sure to light a campfire. Sakura's eyes widened in awe when he staked a few fishes to the ground, making sure the flames were near enough to perfectly grill them. He also took more water and a stick of bread from his tent before he finally sit down next to her. _

"_Well, that took me long enough.", he joked lightly._

"_Sorry I couldn't talk so much. I didn't even tell you my name, right? Well, my name is Uzumaki Naruto." _

_He turned around the fishes before he continued. _

"_And who are you?" _

"_I am Haruno Sakura.", she answered, finally able to use her voice again. _

"_Haruno you say? Does that mean you're the daughter of-" _

"_Yes."_

_Her parents were heroes who were known by practically everyone in Timea. _

"_And you are the ninetails jinchuuriki..?", Sakura asked for she had recognized his name. _

_Naruto nodded approvingly, however, he didn't seem as happy as he did before. _

"_It's a real honor to meet you." _

_Naruto blinked several times, made it more than obvious that he wasn't used to being treated like an actual human being. _

"_You… You're not afraid of me..?" _

"_Are you kidding me? You just saved my life!", she almost shouted at him. _

"_Thank you. Without you… I'm sure I would've died tonight." _

_He just laughed as if helping her was no big deal. _

"_Come on, I don't want any gratitude for that.", he brushed off. _

"_But I'm kinda curious. Why are you alone? For a pretty girl like you it's damn dangerous to walk around the streets, dattebayo." _

_Her eyes saddened almost immediately because answering his question would mean that she'd have to remember that day. _

"_I'm alone, Naruto. My parents were killed four years ago. I was ten years old and since then..."  
She swallowed harshly, memories of her parents started burning her eyes. _

"_You're alone since then?!" _

_He was… shocked. _

_Sakura looked like a fragile, little person, seemed to be soft and so easy to break. _

_He actually didn't belong to those kind of people who let their selves influenced by mere appearance but… no one would think of her as a powerful fighter. _

"_I am." _

_Her answer tasted bitter. For both of them. _

"_I'm sorry.", he said sympathetically, however, Sakura brushed it of. _

"_Don't be. After all… You're alone, too."_

_It was more than obvious to her, really. The tent, his food, the way he just… was- _

_There was no doubt that he too was left behind. _

"_That's true. I was raised in an orphanage but left it years ago."_

_He told her everything about his life, how he was raised and pushed away by basically everyone. Sakura found out about how he had to fight to survive, how he had enough of those people hating him just because he was a jinchuuriki. _

_Naruto was grateful that he finally met someone who didn't see him as a monster. _

"_I knew that leaving the orphanage would be dangerous but I guess pride does that to you. I wasn't gonna stay where I'm not welcome." _

"_I am really sorry, Naruto." _

"_It's okay. I can take care of myself, dattebayo- Oh!" _

_He almost forgot the food and took the stakes in his hands. _

_Sakura blinked as Naruto put three fishes, bread and water right in front of her, smiling from one ear to the other about her flabbergasted face. But she looked… careful, seemed to be hesitant. More so, the Haruno felt shame push against her chest. _

_She wasn't used to be treated like this, never had someone who'd help her. _

_Her parents were the only people she depended on. _

"_Hey, come on. Eat. You need to gain your strength back." _

_He understood that she was ashamed and grinned, before he took a bite. _

"_OUCH! OH MY GOD, THAT'S HOT!" _

_Sakura giggled about his funny expression and handed him the bottle, feeling even more comfortable immediately. She looked at the stake in front of her and swallowed, feeling hunger eat her from the inside out. _

_And when she took the first bite… _

_She almost cried. _

_Yes, Sakura almost shed tears._

_The last time she eat such wonderful food was too long ago, she barely remembered it. _

_More so, the Haruno felt like a real princess, a goddess almost. After all, she had bread, fish **and** water for dinner and it took all of her self control to not stuff her mouth too much. _

_She could feel her body gaining more and more energy, that horrible, disgusting weakness wasn't as heavy anymore. _

_Finally, after so many days of hunger and thirst, Haruno Sakura felt strong again. _

_Just as strong as the kunoichi she actually was. _

"_Thank you.", she then said, her eyes were greener than before, almost shining from the new energy she got. "If it weren't for you… I would've died miserably-" _

"_Don't.", the 16 year old interrupted her. _

"_There's no reason to thank me. I'm glad you're okay now, dattebayo." _

"_You just saved me from that stranger." _

_The pinkette knew there weren't many people in this land who would interfere in a fight, however, Naruto didn't even think about hesitating. _

"_Nah, that guy's a bastard and should be happy he's still alive." _

_Really, he almost regretted letting him go that easy. _

"_But hey. Your chakra totally changed, yo know. Are you a shinobi or something?" _

_The young girl looked at the flames before her and struggled for a few seconds. _

_Should she tell him? Everyone always laughed at her when she told them about her dream, so should she really- _

_No, Naruto wasn't like that. Sakura had the feeling that he would not see her as a foolish girl with ridiculous fantasies. _

"_Yes, I am a kunoichi.", she answered quietly._

"_I train every day to survive and created my own tai-jutsu, Naruto. But unfortunately, I can't practice nin-jutsu." _

_Eyebrows furrowed, the blond ninja looked more than confused about her admission. _

"_What? You mean no one taught you how to use it or..?" _

_He really didn't understand. _

"_No. I just can't use my chakra like that what's weird because I can definitely feel it inside me and use it to heal wounds. That's why I focused on my tai-jutsu." _

_The fox ninja nodded understandingly and folded his arms before his chest, thought about logical reasons to explain her critical condition. _

_He didn't find any. _

"_Well, that really is weird but hey, you don't need nin-jutsu to be a ninja. Tai-jutsu is the most important ability and you should keep improving that, dattebayo." _

"_Yeah… That's what I'm trying. Because one day I want to-" _

_She hesitated again, wasn't sure if she should continue. _

"_What?", he pushed and saw how unsure she was. "Come on, spit it out. I'm curious now!" _

"_I want to build an army one day to protect Timea from those attacks.", she blurted out. _

"_I'm sick of seeing my village being attacked by others and getting smaller every day. I'm done seeing people live a miserable live or get killed. My parents started living their dream of freeing Timea and just because they were killed their dream shouldn't be forgotten. I don't want Timea to stay as miserable as it is. It shouldn't be a happy coincidence that our land wasn't occupied yet, shannaro..." _

_Sakura swallowed and gave him a determined, strong look. _

"_I want to save Timea from it's own downfall." _

_For a long time the ninja looked at her with raised brows, the surprise on his face barely hidden for he had not expected to hear those words from such a fragile looking girl. _

_Her eyes almost spit fire, her words were more than determined and her words sure. _

_She had that dream and would do everything to make it reality. _

_Sakura wasn't sure how the jinchuuriki would react because after all, she was a girl. _

_A woman. _

_No army would voluntarily follow her, much less take her seriously. _

_No one would follow a woman who can't even use nin-jutsu. _

"_That sounds awesome, dattebayo!", he suddenly blurted out, surprising the girl. _

"_Like…__ come on, Timea is a joke! We have no king, no kage, no politics, no rules- We have nothing! And I would love to help you building that army. It's about time we start kicking asses and-" _

"_You don't think my dream is ridiculous?" _

_Naruto eyebrows were raised when she asked him that. _

"_Why should I?", he replied while she looked at him as if the answer was obvious. _

"_Naruto, I'm not only unable to use nin-jutsu, I'm a woman. No one's gonna follow me, they will all laugh-" _

"_Sakura, come on. If you don't respect yourself for all your strengths and weaknesses, no one will.", Naruto said, sounding really wise for his age. _

"_You have to accept yourself and stop worrying about others. Look at me. I'm being called a monster by everyone but I stopped giving a damn about them years ago because I stopped hating myself for being a jinchuuriki. So just relax and train, the rest is gonna be one hell of a nice surprise, dattebayo!" _

_He sounded so honest, so optimistic that Sakura was almost forced to believe his beautiful sounding words. Naruto made her feel like her idea of Timea wasn't just a silly dream, but her actual future that was just about to come true. _

_He was the first one who didn't laugh at her and even convinced her to keep trying. _

"_And you really think people will join my army?", she asked, eyes innocent and hoping. _

"_Of course! Look at me, you just recruited your first soldier." _

_He pumped his elbow playfully against her arm, grinning from ear to eat. _

"_I'm in, Sakura. From now on, I'm gonna help you turning Timea into a strong village, dattebayo!" _

_His eyes were shining like a blue ocean, his voice full of sincerity which literally shocked the pink haired kunoichi. Never. _

_Never before had she met a person who admired her for having this dream. Never had she met anyone who would want to join and help her making it true! _

_The blond ninja stretched out his arm then, holding his fist before her chest and made her laugh for Sakura had the feeling that __this__ sign __was__ his way of sealing a promise. _

_Sakura pumped her smaller fist against his and laughed for the first time since her parents died. She felt warm inside and had the feeling that meeting Uzumaki Naruto was… __everything__. _

"_Would you like to sleep in my tent? I uh… I won't do anything, I swear. But it's pretty cold and my tent is kinda big, so I just wanted to-" _

"_Thank you. You have no idea how thankful I am, Naruto." _

"_Stop thanking me!" _

_Both shinobi then started their new life together and trained every single day while trying to find more and more volunteers to build their army. It was a slow, agonizing process but after they met Hatake Kakashi, the army grew almost immediately and Sakura and Naruto watched their small group developing into a huge, powerful army. _

_So many strong ninjas lived in Timea and shared their idea of an ideal Timea and now, seven years later, they were not alone anymore. _

_They built cottages together, marketplaces weren't a rarity anymore and even crimes weren't committed that often. _

_Timea was finally strong enough to survive without being attacked by countless villages. _

_And Sakura knew that meeting Uzumaki Naruto must have been her fate. They trusted each other without doubting the other for even a second. _

_They were best friends but even… _

_Sakura couldn't explain but starting her life with Uzumaki Naruto didn't just feel wonderful, it almost felt… familiar. _

_It took an eternity but Sakura was proud that they made it that far. _

_Timea finally was an independent land and they would never give up defending their home. _

_._

.

.

"Why should we regret coming this far? Sakura, Timea was _saved_ thanks to you, dattebayo."

Sakura laughed, her cheeks touched by soft redness over his words.

"What are you saying? I couldn't have done anything by myself. You, the entire army made Timea strong again, not me."

"Yeah, but no one would've moved a finger without you."

Naruto and Sakura turned to the lazy voice and smiled when Kakashi Sensei, Ino and Kiba joined them and the pinkette was more than relieved that her female blonde friend managed to heal their wounds perfectly.

"Tenten's okay again, forehead. I gave her some of your drugs and she literally passed out-"  
"Stop calling my medicine 'drugs', shannaro!"

Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura loved each other but still had their friendly banters here and there which really amused their comrades.

"Oh yeah whatever, stop bitching and listen to my question, Sakura.", Ino said, ending this topping quickly.

"When will you finally expose yourself?"

Hearing that hated question, Sakuras eyebrows twitched for she knew which conversation would follow.

"Come on. Over three years passed since we built the army and no one but us knows that you are the leader. I think you should step out of the shadows and tell them."

Her close friends were the only ones who knew about Sakura's hidden identity of being the leader of Timea who was responsible for the immense changes in this land.

Sakura indeed was proud of their accomplishments and wouldn't reduce her efforts, however, the 22 year old was… scared.

After all, she was a woman. A woman without any special abilities, a woman without the ability to use any jutsus.

Everyone was happy with the image of a strong, powerful man leading their home, so how could she expose herself and shock them with the fact that it was a mere _woman_ with pink hair and no nin-jutsu who turned out to be the leader.

Shame and fright stopped her from telling them the truth.

"Soon..."

All three of them groaned over her answer and Sakura was glad Tenten was sleeping because she probably would've slapped her for that answer.

"You said that last week.", Kakashi reminded her and she didn't need to take off his mask to see the disapproving expression on his face.

"Yeah. Just like the week before. And the week before. And the week before. And the week-"

"Thank you, Kiba, I get it, shannaro..."

"But we are right.", Ino said. "It's about time. Stop shitting your pants and speak up."

"How? Ino, how am I supposed to do that? I'm a _woman_ and I don't want them to laugh at me or… or be mad! We can't take any risks that would cause harms to Timea."

"That's ridiculous.", the masked ninja commented, his eyes never leaving his beloved book.

"You are strong and I don't understand why you're reducing yourself so much. The army will be grateful, no one's gonna hate you, Sakura."

"I'm not reducing my abilities as a ninja, Kakashi Sensei. It's their opinion about all this that makes me nervous..."

A heavy sigh left her and Sakura pinched the brick of her nose because yes, she knew they were right. The pinkette never doubted that.

"I will tell them, okay? Just… give me some time -_shuit it, Kiba, not again!_\- and I'll do it."

Her comrades sighed but trusted her decision for they did understand her. Forcing her would be foolish because she had to be ready to take that step, so they would just support Sakura's decisions.

"Fine.", Ino grumbled, leaning her head against Sakura's shoulder.

"But please, don't wait too long. I don't want them to find out about your secret from someone else, okay?"

"Don't worry, they won't. Tenten, Rin Sensei and you guys are the only ones I trust."

And Sakura knew that none of them would tell anyone about her secret.

The four comrades talked and ate together, trying to calm their selves after that horrible fight. Even though they were exhausted, the ninjas took their time to enjoy little moments like these for every day was dangerous and could be the last for them.

They would fight, no matter how dangerous life would get.

After everything, they would fight for freedom and peace.

For a life without fear and sorrows.

No matter what happens, Timea would never stop fighting.

.

.

.

_However, there was one land that already kept an eye on Timea. _

_A village that was ruled and leaded by a strong hokage and was feared for it's immense power by every village. _

_A leader, who never lost a single war. _

_Uchiha Sasuke. _

.

.

.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::.

_**Hello and welcome to my probably most difficult project ever :D **_

"_**Born to live" belongs to my second biggest fanfic which I already publishes a year ago. **_

_**It's really weird to start over again, ya know. This fanfic is actually effing long (350,000 words) and I feel so nostalgic writing the first chaps again, it's really crazy lol **_

_**Anyway, you guys should know that Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto are all kinda OOC because this is is AU fanfic. No Uchiha massacre, no Madara Uchiha- none of that. **_

_**In fact, I started this ff long before I started watching Naruto and just decided to use my idea for a Naruto fanfic hehe **_

_**And there is one more thing. **_

_**Guys, I am a passionate writer and love spending **__**hours**__** writing a fanfic. However, my German writing abilities can be considered as good, but English is my third language. **_

_**It kinda bothers me that the English version of "Born to Live" is never going to be as good as the original version, but I'll try anyway. But please, go easy on me :,D **_

_**I'm really excited about your reations! **_

_**My German readers love this fanfic and I can't wait to find out how you all will react to it because, as I said, contains very OOC characters like… Ino. **_

_**Oh my, I can't wait to present my version of Ino ;D **_

_**Until next chap, guys! **_

_**Love **_

_**Fifi-Uchiha**_


	2. Shocking Message

„_**So, that's your method? Threatening a woman to marry you?"  
He stood right before her, closing the last bit of her well built distance as he reached out to capture her chin between his cold fingers, forcing her to look him in the eye.  
„I always get what I want, Sakura…"  
To protect Timea, Haruno Sakura builds a strong army who manages to win every war that threatens her homeland. But when the powerful hokage Uchiha Sasuke becomes interested in Timea, Sakura's life starts falling apart as she has to accept a forced mirage with the cold , both shinobi find out that they share a shocking past they never could've begun to imagine…**__  
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_

"RAYO!"

Naruto was angry.  
More so, the blond jinchuuriki was furious while he rushed up to a brown haired ninja with purple eyes and tanned skin, his blue eyes full of fury. Without warning and uncharacteristically harsh, Naruto grabbed him by the collar and glared at him fiercely.

"How often do we have to tell you _**not**_ to teach the new recruits dark jutsu's?! There's a reason why they are forbidden, you forgot that?!"  
Rayo's eyes narrowed in disapproval, not showing any kind of fear and seemed rather unimpressed by the blond ninja's fury.  
"And just _who_ do you think you are, Uzumaki?!", he shouted at him.  
The new recruits looked more than uneasy about the sudden commotion, especially since Naruto, who was known for being a really friendly person, looked absolutely dangerous.

"You know the rules, Rayo. Dark jutsu's are not to be taught to those who weren't born with those abilities! That's why they are called '_forbidden_', dattebayo-"  
"Just how naive are you? We live in a world of war, that's why we need black shinobis. You know that dark jutsus are the most effective ones and without them-"

"NO. For fuck's sake, _no!_", Naruto interrupted angrily.  
"I don't give a shit how powerful these jutsus are, because unlike you, the others were not born with them!"

Naruto was no fool. He was aware of the fact that black jutsus are more than powerful and undeniably helpful during every fight. However, teaching them was not an option because those who learn to practice them not only lose their hearts…  
-They lose their very souls. And no one would dare to allow that, that's for sure.

"Besides, what gives you the right to think that you are obligated to boss anyone around?", Rayo hissed smugly, the look in his eyes challenging.  
Really, Naruto hated that guy and cursed fate for making him so strong.  
Rayo -no matter how much of an asshole he was- was a real enrichment for every army, a real beast who no one could defeat in a fight.  
That was the reason why he loved rebelling so much for he knew that he was needed here.  
No one would just kick him out because it would be a loss for Timea. Unfortunately.

"The leader gave that order, Rayo. So stop bitching and follow the goddamn rules!"  
"Tche. Well then, where is the all mighty leader? If he has his so called rules, he should stop hiding and get the fuck out of his shadows and speak up."  
Naruto clenched his teach in fury, his eyes flashed in a deep, warning blue.  
"Okay, that's it you motherfu-"

"What the hell is going on here?!"

Both ninjas turned to the side and saw Sakura, Tenten and Kiba approaching the scene, all three of them more than alarmed over the loud commotion. Sakura had already noticed how angry her blond best friend was and considering that Rayo was involved, she didn't have to think too much about what had happened.  
"What do you think? That bastard wants to teach his psycho-jutsus again!"  
"Urgh, really Rayo? Again?", Kiba just sighed and seemed to be really annoyed by him  
Sakura's eyes narrowed and the alarmed kunoichi threw him a dark, disapproving look before she started talking to the brunet.  
"Dark jutsus are forbidden because of their negative effects on the human body and soul, Rayo. And I'm sure you know that.", she reminded him and didn't realize how provoked Rayo was by her strong, warning voice.  
"And who do you think you are?", he hissed harshly, annoying the pinkette.  
"That doesn't matter.", she just brushed off, fighting her boiling temper.  
"Stop being insistent and train the new recruits like everyone else does."

Her voice was filled with seriousness, however, out of nowhere, Rayo started laughing.  
He laughed spitefully and mockingly at the same time and this time it was the green eyed Haruno who felt provoked by her comrade.

"Says who? _You?_", he smirked sarcastically.  
"Don't act so high and mighty, _Pinky_. Just who do you think you are?"  
Sakura swallowed her heavy anger, turning her small hands into shaking fists.  
"Why they let you be a part of the army will never cease to amuse me, really. A little woman who can't use nin-jutsu. What a _joke_..."  
His harsh words kicked her in the gut and Sakura's green eyes twitched before she couldn't control her anger and acted without thinking.

Before Kiba and Naruto had a chance to punch him in the face, Sakura grabbed his collar and glared at him with menacing, warning eyes that were burning from anger.  
"Now listen good, you fucking son of a bitch. I was a part of the army long before your small ass and I won't take insults from such a little bitch-"  
She stopped in her tracks and suddenly was quite.  
After a few seconds, her fingers loosened and let go of the brown haired ninja who was quite shocked by her sudden, angry outburst.  
Sakura took a deep, really deep breath before she started talking again.

"Follow the rules like every other ninja… or leave.", she hissed calmly.  
"Stop thinking the whole army relies on you. You probably forgot, but I was here long before you even knew about this army, so you should stop poisoning my time with your bullshit. This was the last time, Rayo, because next time you will be kicked out and you'll end up as a clown or as the bitch off some rich guy who has a thing for guys like you. It's your decision and don't think you will be missed."  
To stop herself from punching him, Sakura turned around to leave this place with a proud, confident face. She needed to find a save place in the forest and take out her anger…

"Take this, asshole", Naruto grinned proudly whereas Kiba nodded approvingly.  
"Don't mess with Sakura.", he just added and was really satisfied about her speech.  
Tenten would've really loved giving that bastard a piece of her mind, however, she knew that her hotheaded best friend needed her right know. That's why she too turned around and followed her, knowing that this incident would prolong Sakura's process until she would finally be ready to reveal herself as the leader of Timea.  
_  
Dammit..! _

.  
Sakura was angry, absolutely enraged.  
_Did he deserve to be punched? __**Yap.**__  
__Would it have been the right thing to do? __**Definitely. **__  
Would she have felt sorry? __**No, not before hell freezes to an ice palace for children. **_  
However, there was one thing that basically no one knew.  
She was the leader.  
And that meant she had to learn how to tame her temper and start acting like a responsible leader, even if people like Rayo made er insane.  
That's how a responsible leader should behave, even if the army was ignorant to that fact.

"Sakura!"

Hearing Tenten's voice, the kunoichi smiled immediately and felt better when the brunette put her hand on her shoulder.  
"Hey. Don't listen to that idiot. We both know he has no idea what he's talking about.", she begun seriously while Sakura just looked… exhausted.  
"I know...", the 22 year old sighed sadly, looking up to watch the clear blue sky.  
"But… Comments like those is what I'm afraid of so much, Tenten. As much of a bastard he is, what he said was the truth. If they find out that I'm the leader, they will not only refuse to respect or even accept me, they will surely laugh at me and-"  
"Rayo is an idiot and you know it. Just because his intelligence is clearly not evolved doesn't mean that the whole army is that retarded.", her friend calmly interrupted.  
"Stay strong, okay? Don't let that Rayo get to you, that's exactly what he wants."

That, Sakura knew but it didn't ease her discomfort and nervousness.

"Thank you, Tenten. For everything.", she then smiled, holding her hands.  
"You don't know how much I appreciate everything you do for me. As long as Ino, Naruto, Kiba, Kakashi Sensei, Rin Sensei and you stay with me… there won't be anything I couldn't handle."  
Tenten really was something special.

The 23 year old kunoichi came from a rich clan and lived with her cousin Kiba and her parents in a gigantic house.  
Starting as a little girl, the brunette found interest in weapons and fighting and she was allowed to be trained until she became an excellent shinobi. She was drawn to weapons, nin-jutsu and tai-jutsu and lived a seemingly perfect life that allowed her to practice that passion of hers. Her parents were distant people, a little cold and disinterested.  
But that didn't really bother Tenten for she had her cousin Kiba who was adopted by her parents when he was a baby.

They weren't related by blood but it never mattered to her. She always loved Kiba, no matter what happened.

But Tenten hadn't been aware of how poor Timea's condition was.  
She never knew how cruel reality looked like behind the giant walls that covered their home until that day.  
The day that changed her and Kiba's life forever…

.

___That day started totally normal and Tenten ke__p__t herself busy by cleaning her weapons after her match with her 17 year old cousin when suddenly, out of nowhere, a loud explosion __shook the very earth under their home.  
"What the hell..?!"  
She immediately rushed to the window and hated how her home was shielded by those godforsaken walls __but when she saw the dark, thick smoke, Tenten's eyes widened._

_And then the screams of terror followed._

_Without even wasting one single thought, Tenten took her ninja tools and ran out of her room to the lobby __where she was aiming for the door.  
Kiba was already there, leaning against the wall beside the door while his arms were crossed __over his chest while his sword was practically waiting beside him  
__He shared her feelings and knew that it was only a matter of time until they would go out and help those people._

_"What the hell is going on there?!", the young kunoichi __shouted upset, her voice loud and demanding whereas she earned dry looks from her parents and butlers.  
"The village is being attacked by three __criminals, Tenten-sama.", one of the maids answered.  
"WHAT?", she shrieked angered and shocked at the same time and then opened the door.  
"And why is everyone sitting here instead of helping to fight them?! The villagers are no fighters-"  
"Because it is none of our business."_

_Tenten stoo__d __still by those words, looking at her black haired father without finding any sympathy in his dark brown eyes. The 17 year old kunoichi was going to say something inexcusable but was interrupted by horrified screams._

_"PLEASE! HELP US!"  
"THEY ARE SLAUGHTERING US, PLEASE!"  
"HEEEEEEEEEELP!"_

_"__WHY __don't__ you let them enter at least?!", she hissed at her parents.  
Not fighting the deadly trio was one thing, but denying those civilians safety was a new dimension of evil. Why didn't her parents at least try to save them?  
"The attack doesn't concern us, honey.", her mother just replied.  
"We can't take the risk and let those people-"_

_"__**People**__, mother.", Tenten underlined.  
"People, __**humans**__ are just about to lose their li__f__es! And while they are being slaughtered, you guys decide to just sit here and do nothing?!"  
Seeing her strong and burning eyes, Kiba just closed his eyes and smirked proudly.  
"Watch your tongue, young lady!", her father warned loudly.  
"'Watch my tongue'..?"  
Tenten couldn't believe her ears, her face was grimacing from all those disgusted feelings she now __harbored__ for her so called parent__s._  
_"My __tongue couldn't even __**begin**__ to explain my resentment for you. You all disgust me.", she __barked disappointed and turned around to leave her __home._

_"Kiba?"  
She looked at her cousin who had just quietly watched the scene before him.  
Kiba was an adopted son who might lost his real parents, but was able to find a new family. He was thankful for being a part of this family and even though he loved his adoptive parents, he shared Tenten's opinion.  
She was his dearest friend and his sister.  
Nothing in this world would keep him away from her, no matter what.  
"Are you coming?"  
A grin touched his lips when she asked him that.  
"__I was just waiting for you, dear cousin."_

_"If you dare leave this place, you don't need to return.", their father snarled.  
The brunette turned around to look at their parents, her eyes disappointed and bitter.  
However, she made her decision and knew she wouldn't regret it._

_"Farewell, Mother and Fat__h__er..."  
._

.  
_  
__Kiba and Tenten showed no fear when they fought the __attackers who were indeed very powerful, but no match for the two ninjas. It was this moment that made them realize how rotten Timea was, how dangerous it became to live here as a normal civilian.  
How was that even possible? Why could it be that no politics, no rules and no leaders were part of this land? Tenten and Kiba had enough and decided to fight for their homeland, fearing that one day Timea will be doomed by it's own incapability of being strong._

_It was Kiba who had met Naruto while he was buying something to eat.  
The fox ninja seemed to be really nice and started talking about Sakura's and his plan and never realized how curious Kiba became who shared his idea of an ideal homeland.  
They formed their own group and started taking missions to protect Timea and stop smaller attacks.  
Kiba was a man who held contact to many people and after a few weeks, he heard of the copy ninja Hatake Kakashi and started looking for him.  
The jounin was known and feared for this strength and due to the fact that he stopped being a sensei to others, they hoped he would want to join them._

_Their plan had worked._

_The silver haired jounin was fascinated by the idea of an own army for he had been part of the first one leaded by Sakura's parents many years ago. Exciting nostalgia __took over him as Rin and him decided to try again and it was more than convenient that they both held contact with many shinobi from back then who would still want to fight. __A knock-on effect took it's course and within a few years, Timea's army was formed almost too fast…  
._

.

"Sakura, Tenten, what are you two doing here?"

A relaxed, masked ninja approached the two girls, holding his beloved book in his left hand.  
"Kakashi Sensei.", they acknowledged, smiling about the ninja.  
"Didn't you want to teach nin-jutsu to group C?"  
"Indeed, Sakura. I showed them the basics. Mastering them however is something they have to do their selves."  
"Oh, come on. You just wanted to read those porn books of yours, Sensei.", Tenten just said knowingly. Kakashi's eyes turned into little half moons, the only clue that he smiled coyly under his mask about the brunettes little remark.

"You call it porn, I call it _exclusive literature for adults_, my beloved student.", he just said.  
"Something children like you two can't understand, Tenten."  
Both kunoichis shook their head and laughed about his laid back personality only people close to him were allowed to see.  
"However, I couldn't help but taking notice your… conversation.", the jounin mentioned, who put his book into his pocked to talk to them.  
"You know how I think about this, Sakura. Be proud of yourself and keep your promise not for us, but for yourself. It doesn't have to happen tomorrow but you shouldn't let Rayo influence your decision."  
The jounin sounded assuring, as if he just… _knew_ what she was feeling.  
"Rayo's hostility sure is complicate to deal with but this his how life works. There will be people like him who will try to break you, but I wouldn't generalize his behavior. There isn't a single human being who is loved by everyone and trust me, _I_ know what I'm talking about. The only important thing is how you deal with that."

Tenten was impressed by his wise words and nodded approvingly.  
"That's right. Look at Kakashi Sensei, Sakura. His bored, relaxed ass doesn't give a damn about what others think about him and he's more than happy.", she smiled and petted his head, praising him for this character trait.  
"Hm… I guess I should just take the compliment."  
The jounin said everything he wanted and took the Icha Icha paradise from his bag, waved his hand and left the two kunoichis again, needing time to read this interesting novel.

"Really, I love this guy.", Tenten laughed whereas Sakura smiled softy at the leaving ninja.  
"Yeah.", she agreed.

"Me too..."

.

….…..

In his big throne room, Uchiha Sasuke stood by the round window and looked at the image of Konoha-gakure which was known for being strong and wealthy with a hokage who would make sure it would stay this way.  
The hokage had raven black hair and onyx eyes that seemed blank and cold, giving no access to anyone who would try to look at his soul.

Sasuke was a reckless, cold person who became the hokage four years ago. His parents died too early and the Uchiha, who was trained since he was a kid, took their place and promised to always protect Konoha at any cost. The 23 year old was a natural leader who didn't only keep political stability, but also won every single war.  
_Konoha never lost a fight. Never.  
He made sure of that. _

His army only consisted of the best of the best, only shinobi with excellent abilities were able to be a part of it. Him included.

"Sasuke-sama."  
The hokage blinked as he heard the voice of one of his best shinobi, Hyuuga Neji.  
Neji was an exceptional ninja, a genius who was dependable and an enrichment for his army and one of the few people Sasuke really respected. His hair was dark brown, a real contrast to his pale eyes which were a great weapon for the Hyuuga.  
Like Sasuke, Neji was more of a calm, collected person which probably was the reason why they got along in the first place.  
"The mission was a success.", Neji informed him with a calm voice.  
"Good.", Sasuke answered simply. "Tell me exactly what happened."  
Neji nodded and folded his arms as he started talking about Timea-gakure.

"Timea won another battle.", he begun whereas Sasukes raised his eyebrows at him.  
"Timea you say?", he asked. "Are you sure? Just a few yeas ago, this land was nothing but a pathetic mess and just about to be occupied completely. They didn't even have an army, much less a leader, so how did they manage to beat Oto-gakure?"  
Of course, Sasuke had heard the rumors about Timea's growing power, however, he just considered them as what they were. Simple rumors.

But when he heard about the upcoming battle between Oto-gakure and Timea, he couldn't keep his ignorance and sent Neji and Shisui to gain information. And indeed, the rumors were true.  
Timea won.

"As it seems, the leader of Timea isn't just a powerful, capable ninja, he also built the army and trains the recruits. The villagers have hope, the entire land seems to be full of life again."  
Sasuke nodded understandingly, sitting on this throne as he thought about this for a few seconds.  
"You don't say.", he replied dryly. "And what might be the name of that great leader?"  
It's almost impossible to believe a man could be this strong…

"Unfortunately, we weren't able to find him.", Neji admitted shamefully whereas Sasuke looked indignant.  
"It seems like not even the recruits know the true identity of him. His face is a secret to everyone and he only acts from the shadows and refuses to expose himself."  
Hearing this information, Sasuke's eyes narrowed in disapproval.  
He refused to show himself?

_Was he too proud? Or was he just being a coward?  
_  
"What a modest man, really.", he commented dryly.  
"Who would have thought that such a pathetic village like Timea would become so powerful?"  
_Really interesting,_ Sasuke thought.  
Neji eyed the Uchiha, tried to read him and had an idea what the hokage was up to.  
"What do you want to do, Sasuke-sama?"

The black haired ninja was thinking about something, his dark eyes calculating as Neji waited for bis answer.  
Suddenly, the corner of his moth twitched and Sasuke smirked darkly.

"I think we should put an end to Timea's great history.", he finally spoke.  
"Their land is powerful enough to be occupied by us, don't you think?"  
Sasuke sounded sarcastic and cold as he spoke, showing no sympathy at all.  
"It's about time to expand Konoha and our army, Neji."

Sasuke's smirk widened devilishly and Neji knew exactly what kind of plan Sasuke had in mind…

.

…...…..…..

"Hey Rayo."

The brown haired ninja was leaning against a tree as two jounins came to him.  
"Zoe. Takuya.", he greeted plainly, not giving them too much attention.  
"Dude, we need to help the new recruits. Come on, everyone's waiting for you."  
Takuya was a little annoyed by his indifference, but still didn't want to start another fight.  
"Takuya's right, Rayo. Come on, two days passed since your argument with Sakura and Naruto, get over it and stop pouting."

Rayo's purple eyes narrowed when he heard the names of the people he hated most.

"Speaking of, what exactly happened? Why do you always have to provoke fights? We know you're not quite happy with this army, but we still share one dream. Just what's wrong with you?", Zoe asked worriedly without trying to anger him.  
"This army is a fucking joke.", Rayo then spitted.  
"There's absolutely no structure here. The_ oh so_ great leader doesn't do shit and because he's not around, some _maggots_ think they have the right to boss me around."  
His fists were shaking in fury when he remembered the look on their smug faces.  
"Our dream was to empower our home, wasn't it? But nothing has changed at all. We're still small and weak and the leader does nothing to help Timea getting bigger!"

"Rayo, to make our village bigger, we'd have to attack others, do you realize that?", Zoe reminded him, sounding a little alarmed.  
"She's right, you know. We all wanted Timea to be strong again, to keep it alive and safe so we can live a peaceful life. We are safe and happy, isn't that enough?"

"No, it's not!", Rayo barked aggressively.  
"No one understands that we are still considered as weak. Timea is still weak inside and yes, we should be more offensive and attack the others to gain power! Every other village does that. Just look at Hermos and Konoha! You don't see them acting like little bitches without any guts in the first place!", he spat angrily whereas Takuya and Zoe sighed heavily.  
"And that fucking leader is the biggest joke! Why do we even have to follow orders from a man who doesn't find it necessary to come out! Does he think he's too good for us?!"

That was the only logical reason to Rayo.

"I see, you need more time to calm down...", Zoe said a little overwhelmed.  
"We'll see you later. You know where you can find us."  
Rayo refused to look at them and didn't say anything when they left, thinking about his annoying situation.

All this fuss about this damn leader was angering him to no end.  
It just didn't make any sense that he never showed his face and Rayo had the feeling that there must've been a reason for it. Something was… off.  
It was a secret that he would find out eventually.

_He was done being patient and would to anything to reveal that guy's true identity…  
._

.  
….…..…..…..…..…..….…...…..…..….….….

"Hello Mama. Hey Papa."

On a lonely flower field before two round, self made grave stones, a young kunoichi greeted her parents. Her parents whom she had to bury herself in the age of 10.  
A calm, sad smile touched her lips after she had cleaned their graves and decorated the place with pink and white flowers, feeling somehow peaceful when she was finished.

"I hope you didn't miss me too much.", she apologized quietly.  
"I was really busy because we needed to train for a battle. And guess what- We won!"  
And then she started talking about everything that happened in those last, stressful weeks even though she wasn't sure if her parents were able to actually hear her.

"My tai-jutsu is near perfect and it's really helpful I created my own style. I'm… My team makes me really happy and I love how Timea turned out after so many horrible years. We build cottages and market places and I really feel like your dream finally came true."  
The smile on her lips became even more honest.  
"Soon, you will be proud of Timea, Mama and Papa."

One single tear dropped to the ground, but Sakura took a deep breath and hold more them back.  
She missed her parents so horribly much and yearned for their hugs and love, it really hurt her. Her heart clenched and her lips shook while she thought about her fathers big, silly grin and her mothers calm and beautiful smile but still, she felt home like this.  
To her, her parents were the most beautiful persons in the world who always made her laugh and showered her with love, so much, that it still reached her even after their deaths.

_If only she had been as strong as she was now.  
If only her parents hadn't been so exhausted…  
__**No. **_**  
**  
No, she couldn't let herself be consumed by those what-if scenarios for they were neither helpful nor healthy. Her parents died by protecting their homeland and daughter and Sakura was proud of them, she was thankful for everything they did.  
She accepted it because otherwise, she would turn into a mad mess.

"I love you so much...", she whispered against the soft breeze that dried her tears like her mother had years ago.  
"And I promise you… I will protect Timea and honor your efforts, not matter what it takes."  
Her voice was steady again, full of confidence and strength for she knew that tears would never help her.  
_  
Timea and her team needed her.  
That's all that counted for Sakura… _

.  
"Sakura?"  
The leader of Timea immediately smiled and softly touched the grave stones before she turned around and crossed her arms with Naruto's who was waiting for her.  
"We should go before sun sets, dattebayo…"  
"Yeah. You're right."  
With a calm, content smile the two best friends walked together without speaking a single word. That's how they dealt with everything after they visited their parent's graves.  
But no matter how sad and helpless they might felt, Sakura and Naruto had found each other and even more comrades who made them more than happy.

They lost their parents but fate gifted them with a new family.  
_  
And that was more than enough. _

.

When they arrived at their resting place, Naruto and Sakura blinked a little confused.  
It was dark already but not only were they able to see the unreadable faces of 30 shinobi who stood behind Ino, Kiba, Tenten and Kakashi Sensei, the whole atmosphere seemed…  
dark. Much darker than the sky right now.

_They were quite. Too quite. _  
No one spoke a single word but what Sakura realized was how… troubled they looked.  
Yeah, every single one of them looked troubled, unsure, almost…  
_Devastated. _  
As if something horrible happened.

"Uh… guys, what happened..?", Sakura carefully asked who already felt a heavy, disgusting push against her gut. Sakura's heartbeat quickened, her breathing hitched and cold sweat covered her pale face even though she didn't exactly know what had happened.  
"You all look like the world is gonna end, dattebayo...", Naruto added nervously laughing, sharing a sorrowful look with the pinkette.

It was Kakashi who took the first steps and approached the duo before he handed Sakura a scroll which had been opened before. And still, no one spoke a single word.  
A needle could've dropped and literally everyone would've been able to hear it…  
However, Sakura swallowed the thick lump in her dry throat and opened the heavy scroll and started reading immediately…  
She read and read and read, repeated hat act for at least fifty times before it hit her.  
No, it literally _punched_ Sakura who felt an explosion banging inside her body after she realized the words she just took in. Her eyes widened in shock, absolute terror darkened her pale face and for a moment the leader thought she would collapse.  
_Shock, disbelief, devastation, __desperation, fear, anger- _  
So many emotions raged inside her even though she tried to fight it.

_Because this couldn't be true.  
No. It must be an illusion, a gen-jutsu, a sick, disgusting joke-  
No. __**No… NO! **__  
Everything, EVERYTHING but THIS!_

Her paralyzed eyes met Kakashi's who didn't look as relaxed as he usually did.  
This horrible massage shocked even the great copy ninja who had never felt so stressed before because this massage would change everything.  
Sakura's shock stuck so deep that she could not form the right words.  
She just couldn't, it felt like her body was frozen without having the ability to get free from that sudden shock.

It was Yamanaka Ino who broke the heavy, sickening silence and found the only words to officially explain what horrible incident happened that would silence them all.

.

"Konoha-gakure declared war on Timea."

.  
.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Well helloooo!  
I'm sorry, this fanfic is not that spectacular right now but I promise, you won't be disappointed :D  
It's still so weird to start over, ya know. I mean, I already published 76 chapters and saw my characters developing and doing things without asking for my permission lol  
However, be prepared. I will only take six more chapters until Sasuke and Sakura meet.  
And guys, don't forget. Sasuke and basically everyone is OOC in this fanfic but I have the feeling that you're gonna like it ;D

Thanks for your support 3

Fifi-Uchiha

PS:  
Little tip. Why do you think did I call this fanfiction 'born to live'?  
There is a reason and if you find the answer out, you'll probably know what's going to happen hehe 


	3. Complications

"Konoha-gakure declared war on Timea."

. 

Kakashi's words echoed in everyone's ears, seeming louder than he actually intended. To Sakura, it felt like a harsh kick in the gut she just couldn't ignore.  
Without warning, her head started pounding like crazy, her breathing hitched and dizziness was clouding her mind. Her throat clenched and breathing suddenly was a challenge for the leader.  
Every single ninja was taken over by pure, raw shock because no one could've ever dreamed to expect something like this.

Konoha wanted a war. They _actually_ declared _**war**_.  
_Why? What did Timea do to them? There was no connection between Konoha and Timea, so why would they voluntarily want to declare war? _  
_They have never been enemies, so what the hell happened?!  
It didn't make any sense! _  
"Could that be… a joke or something, Kakashi Sensei..?", Naruto finally broke the heavy silence.

"No, Naruto. I know the signature and checked the scroll with my sharingan to the smallest detail. It is true. Konoha-gakure does want to fight us."  
The bitter answer angered the blond jinchuuriki who clenched his teeth behind his closed mouth, trying to hide his nervousness.  
"But why? What do they want from us, we never did anything to them, dattebayo!"  
The jounin closed his eyes and knew that there wasn't an answer in this world that would satisfy the fox ninja.  
"My theory is that they found out about Timea's growing power. As it seems, we're not only concurring them, Konoha probably sees us as some kind of threat or something."

"And just because of this ridiculous reason they want a death battle?!", Tenten hissed upset whereas Kakashi just shrugged his shoulders.  
"That's how it looks like to me."

"We have ten days.", the kunoichi breathed.

Sakura didn't even want to think about it and swallowed the thick lump in her too tight throat, so many wild thoughts were hammering against her skull that she almost lost consciousness.  
The mere imagination of the upcoming fight made her insides clench painfully.  
Konoha-gakure was a corrupt, calculating, horrible and well experienced opponent.  
Not only had this land won every battle they ever faced, no, they also barely lost any ninja during those. It was like their entire army was a collection of the best of the best.  
Every fighter possessed deadly abilities and dangerous kekkei genkais…

Now, Timea had to face this blood thirsty army.  
Timea was forced to fight their most brutal battle and Sakura could not lie here…  
She was scared.  
But scared or not, there was nothing they could do to change their critical situation and that's why she took a deep breath and slammed the offending scroll against a near tree.  
"I won't run.", she declared with her strong, determined voice.

"After everything we accomplished… After all those battles we survived, I'm not gonna give up and let Konoha-gakure take over my homeland. Shannaro, if there is one village beside Hermos who could compete with Konoha, it's Timea."  
The soldiers looked at the upset kunoichi who indeed was afraid, however, fear had never stopped her before and it would definitely not start today.

Ino, Naruto, Tenten and Kakashi were proud of her and already knew that they wouldn't turn their backs on the pinkette.

"We are all ninjas from Timea-gakure and it is our responsibility to protect our home at any cost! I will not judge anyone who would leave but I made my decision. Uchiha Sasuke and his army can take over lands but we have the will of fire burning in our hearts! Is was us who rebuilt Timea from it's grounds to a proud land and no matter what, I will protect my home!"

Haruno Sakura represented the perfect picture of a great leader even though she hid the truth from her comrades.  
The army was silent and obviously needed a moment to think about the new situation that would probably change everything.

It would be a gruesome, horrible battle.  
Konoha was incredibly experienced.  
The army contains only the strongest fighters and Uchiha Sasuke was known to be an absolute deadly shinobi.

And Sakura would have to face this shinobi as the leader of Timea…

.

"I'm in!"

Yamanaka Ino and Nohara Rin were the first ones to break the silence, smiling at the leader with the pink hair.  
"Me too!", Tenten added which didn't really surprise Sakura.  
"Hey, I'm totally in, datttebayo!"  
"Don't forget about me.", Kiba grinned and Kakashi looked more than pleased for more and more ninjas raised their hands to voice out their vows.

"Count me in!"  
"I'll fight with you guys!"  
"It's about time we kick some boss ass!"  
"No way are we gonna lose to Konoha!"  
"We're gonna make them feel sorry for challenging us!"

A bright smile touched Sakura's lips while she was watching all her comrades looking confident and determined. _  
Yes, they would have to fight again.  
Yes, it would be hard for them.  
Yes, she wanted to cry. _

But it wouldn't change anything about her situation and Sakura knew that there weren't many options to consider. If they wanted Timea to keep it's freedom and safety, there was no other way around.  
They literally had no choice.

"Guys, we need to see our leader!", one shinobi suddenly said.  
"Yeah, he's right. Why doesn't he show himself?"  
Naruto threw Sakura an alarmed look and saw the nervousness in her green eyes. Because yes, she knew what she actually had to do.  
The army needed to know the truth about the identity of their leader…

"He will show up two days before the fight.", she then promised.  
"Eight days. And then, we will fight together and win!"  
The ninjas nodded as everyone rose their fists to show how determined and serious they now were.

"YES!"

.

_"__SASUKE!"_

_Konoha's most powerful hokage found himself in __a __dark world in the middle of an empty, fog filled battlefield. He didn't know where he was nor did he understand how he got here and for some reason, he couldn't find the will to care.  
"SASUKE, HELP ME!"_

_It was the horrified voice of a woman that caught his attention and forced him to feel something he never __had__ even begun to think about._

_The person calling him was __definitely a__ female and didn't only sound frightened, no, she seemed to be in absolute panic. She was definitely panicking, calling him in dark despair as if she was suffering from the most horrible tortur__e which made him feel__ bitter, shocking sorrow inside his heart._

_He was afraid.  
Sasuke was worried about this woman.  
_  
_"SASUKEEEE!"_

_Her last scream made his insides freeze and his heart clench.  
That's when he started running.  
Sasuke started running and tried to look for her in this dark, unknown world.  
However, he wasn't sure who he was trying to find, who he was so worried about that he actually felt physical pain at the mere thought of… being __too late.  
__After all, there were no women in his life that mattered__enough to make him act like a crying fool,_ _there were no women he actually… loved.  
_

_But still.  
He still felt his blood boil when he heard her piercing scream again.  
Sasuke was sure that he had never heard such a pain filled, tortured voice, that so much horror and suffering could be even voiced out like that. He always thought that __even the most gruesome__ pain and suffering had certain limit__s__-  
But he was so awfully wrong._

_He didn't want this. Whoever she was, Sasuke did not want her to feel any kind of pain.  
This beautiful sounding __voice __shouldn't __scream__ so __damaged and suffering, this stranger shouldn't be hurt or tortured because… even thinking about it dulled Sasuke's entire life.  
"__Where are you?!", he howled.  
"I'm coming for you, so tell me where you are!"  
It felt natural talking to her like, as if he actually knew her...__  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"_

_His eyes twitched in shock, his shaking hands were turned into fists and his jaw hardened as Sasuke __ran faster, flashing like lightning to save her while feeling rage burning his blood.  
"__DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH HER!", the black haired hokage screamed who wanted to murder the bastard who dared hurting her.__  
"Let her go or I swear to __G__od, I will rip you to __**shreds**__!"  
His deep voice __was burning from __hatred and blood thirst, which too wasn't __common for the hokage, but he couldn't help it and didn't care either.  
Every pained scream felt like a kunai __being rammed inside his pulsating heart and dammit, he wanted it to stop.  
He wanted to stop her suffering and __**save**__ her! ___

_"__**SASUKE! PLEASE, I CAN'T **__**TAKE IT ANYMORE!**__"  
__She cried and for a second, Sasuke thought he was burning alive.  
Those unusual, intense feelings were squeezing him and after hearing that __piercing, shrill__ scream, he knew it would be the last one.  
Sasuke's body and soul felt her life ending just like that.  
And then, at this moment…  
He lost himself._

_"__**NOOOOOOOOOOO!**__"  
._

…

"No!"

Sweat covered and breathless, Sasuke rose up and found himself in his own bedroom again. He felt dizzy, the word around seemed to be vibrating and it took awfully long for him to understand that this horrible scenario ended.  
For the first time, he was happy to be in his bedroom, really.

It was a dream.  
A horrible, gruesome, too real nightmare.  
Those really started to get on Sasuke's nerves..!.

Sasuke's day had been kind of boring for nothing special happened.  
Training, annoying paper work and making sure to prepare the army for the upcoming battle filled his day, but the difference was that the hokage couldn't quite focus on anything.

"You seem distracted, Sasuke-sama."  
Neji's voice brought him back from his depressing thoughts before Sasuke looked to the Hyuuga who -of course- saw right through the hokage.  
"It's nothing, Neji.", he simply brushed off and sighed quietly.  
"There is nothing do do here for you. You should go home and rest."  
Neji nodded understandingly and left the black haired ninja who was really thankful to the gods that the Hyuuga was such an uncomplicated and loyal man.

His thoughts drifted off again and Sasuke remembered that godforsaken dream. He really couldn't understand.  
_  
Why did he dream about a person he obviously had__never seen in his life?  
Why did he feel such panic and why did it feel so real?  
Why did he even care if she was hurt or not?  
As far as he knew, there weren't many people he would try to save that desperately and those were not women. __No woman was that important to him. _

Those dreams had started annoying him approximately two years ago, right after his 21 birthday.  
At first, he was only able to see the silhouette of a woman who looked graceful and soft while the shadow ofher hair danced in the wind. The woman possessed no colors and seemed like a shadow that had burned itself in his brain.  
Soft nothings were whispered in his ear by a gentle, beautiful voice that felt so familiar and yet so strange because Sasuke was absolutely sure that he didn't know a woman who was this close to him.  
However, those dreams didn't want to stay nice and soft and turned into horrible nightmares months later.

Her voice changed with despair and pain and she started crying and screaming which maddened the black haired hokage who never stopped looking and running for her.  
Sasuke tried to ignore those nightmares but this task was really far easier said than done because this girl… this woman felt so real.  
Not only would he never stop trying to save her, Sasuke even… _missed_ her presence…  
_  
And this is not how the hokage actually was. _

"Tche. Ridiculous."  
Why was he even worrying about such childish dreams?  
He said it himself, didn't he? Those nightmares were nothing but ridiculous _dreams_ and Sasuke felt even more ridiculous for worrying about this non existent woman so much.  
Well, he probably just needed a little training session with Shisui to distract him.

Hopefully, those dreams would stop bothering him one day.

.

…..….

"SHANNARO!"

A hard punch thundered in the middle of the warm, quiet woods.  
"Dammit! Dammit, _dammit_, _**dammit!**_"  
Sakura **hated** Konoha-gakure and this goddamn bastard Uchiha Sasuke from the deepest bottoms of her heart!_  
Bastard, asshole, fucker, son of a __**bitch!**_  
_What kind of person would declare war?! How fucked up in the head must he be to actually declare war for basically no goddamn reason whatsoever?!  
What the hell was __**wrong**__ with that bastard?! _

Sakura was panting, feeling that familiar clench inside her throat while she punished the tree for Uchiha Sasuke's decision. Breathing became harder, the air had trouble to reach her lungs which Sakura tried to control as calmly as she could…  
_God, she was so angry…  
_  
For so many years she worked hard and did everything to save her homeland from its own downfall, trying to build a new structure for all the villagers to have a normal life again-  
After all her efforts, this man showed up and destroyed everything with one, single message.  
_Just to… to fucking prove he's __superior.__.?!  
_  
"Oh Sakura, stop torturing the poor tree."  
It were Ino and Naruto who finally found the pinkette.  
"Ino's right. It didn't do anything to you, dattebayo."  
The blond shinobis knew how devastated their pink haired friend was and tried to cheer her up even if they knew their efforts would be useless. Sakura was good at holding the best speeches and boosting everyone's confidence, but still, she failed at trying to fight back her own fears.  
There was no doubt that the Haruno was shaking of fear.

"I HATE Konoha!", she hissed hatefully. "And I HATE that Uchiha-bastard!"  
Her hand touched her head, fingers pulling at her own braid of desperation.  
"Get a grip, Sakura, you're making a scene.", Ino ordered. "You're not being yourself."  
"How am I supposed to get a grip, Ino? If Timea loses, we will either die or be enslaved!"  
Just thinking about his made her insides burn and Sakura felt the desire to choke that old bastard for being such an arrogant, blood thirsty son of a bitch!  
"And let's not forget that this old asshole is an Uchiha! So not only is his army fucking insane, he too is an exceptional fighter with basically no weaknesses!"

Sakura didn't realize she was walking in circles while she got lost in her own thoughts, talking about her fears without thinking about Ino and Naruto.

"Our army is _nothing_ compared to them! Their fighters are perfect and I don't want to even think about all those kekkei genkais. We are not half as experienced either! And now I even have to tell them the truth about me! What if they lose hope and leave the army? What if they start hating me? What if-"  
"Come on, no one's gonna hate you, dattebayo. Especially not now-"  
"Even IF we can compete with their army..."  
Sakura continued talking without acknowledging her friend's efforts to talk to her.

"How am I supposed to fight their leader? How can I, a woman without nin- and gen-jutsu, compete with an Uchiha who possesses the sharingan?!"  
"Sakura, you are a chakra-blocker. You will be able to whop that bastards ass-"  
"I won't be able to do shit if he uses his sharingan on me, shannaro!"  
Sure, Kakashi-sensei always made sure to train with her so she can get used to the sharingan's powerful abilities, however, Sakura was afraid of the even more dangerous mangekyou sharingan.  
Because no matter how much she trained with Kakashi, the mangekyou sharingan scared her the most. There was no way Kakashi could prepare her for this because he once told her that the mangekyou is an individual power and every Uchiha possesses different abilities.

So, how could she possibly fight someone with such great powers?  
Sakura wasn't born with a kekkei genkai or any special powers at all, for God's sake, that bastard would probably laugh at her for attempting to challenge him.

"He's going to win. That guy will kill me first and then-"  
"Okay, that's IT!"

A loud slap echoed through the woods and silenced the kunoichi immediately.  
Naruto's eyes were widened when Ino looked at Sakura sharply who simply rose her hand and touched her reddened cheek, looking almost paralyzed by her blonde friend's slap.

"Get a fucking grip, Sakura! The whole army is ready to fight and didn't lose hope at all! So stop mourning us all because we're not dead yet, you hear me? Don't you ever forget that this army is not weak!"  
Naruto felt a little lost, looking back and forth to assess the situation between the hotheaded kunoichis.  
"How can it be that you are able to cheer everyone up but fail to believe your own words? Believe in our army like you did a dozen times before and act like the leader you fucking **are**, Haruno Sakura!"

Sakura's jaw dropped and eyes widened after hearing those words.  
Yamanaka Ino was a woman full of self confidence and possessed high temper and belonged to those people who were able to reach others with bare words.  
She understood her friend of course, but showing sympathy wouldn't help her, so being harsh was the only option for the blonde.

"Ino's right, you know.", Naruto said, planting one hand on her shoulder.  
"You are our leader and everyone trusts you. You will be accepted and no one is gonna leave the army just because you're a woman.", he assured and looked like he really believed what he said.  
"We should just enjoy our life for a few days. Let's just stop worrying for a while and use this time to recover from the last battle. We can do it, Sakura, like we always do."  
The grin on his face was honest and comforting and Sakura felt hope shining inside her again after realizing that Ino and Naruto really believed they could win. So…  
She did, too.

Sakura wanted to believe in her army and smiled for being depressed wouldn't do any good and probably have more negative effects on her.

"You're right...", she then said before she dried her tears with the back of her hand.  
"I believe in our army, shannaro."

.

.  
In all her happiness, the group didn't realize the purple-eyed observer whose eyes were fixated on the three ninjas. A wide, sinister smirk tucked at his lips after hearing the more than shocking information he gladly gained.  
Who would have thought that the mysterious leader was actually a woman..?

"Well, _that's_ really interesting..."

"Come on, wildcat. Give it to me, dattebayo..."  
Ino rolled her blues eyes in bemused annoyance while training with Naruto and threw several kunais at the fox ninja who expertly dodged them.  
She blocked one of his punches, flipped back to gain some distance and threw three shuriken which Naruto -_again_\- blocked with his kunai.  
Both ninjas trained for hours now, both of them didn't really give it their all for this match was just a little distraction to them after having so much stress lately.  
"Baby, we both know you can do better than this.", Naruto grinned smugly.

"Call me that one more time and I will feed you with your intestines."  
Naruto laughed a little troubled and wondered where the Yamanaka learned to use such amusing threats. The blonde was one hell of a hot challenge with a temper that was on the same level as Sakura's which actually said a lot.

Speaking of-  
Sakura had accompanied Kiba and Tenten who wanted to get something to eat while Kakashi Sensei and Rin Sensei were looking for more recruits that would join their army.  
So that's why Ino and Naruto had decided to have a little match and of course, the jinchuuriki made sure to drive her crazy.

Naruto admitted… that he had a thing for Ino.  
Her sharp tongue, her exceptional skills as a kunoichi combined with her caring nature she tried to hide to bad was appealing to him for Naruto found this interesting mixture absolutely amazing.  
_Probably too much __for is own good, really__… _

"You let your guard open, _Baby_."  
Before Naruto could even blink, he was tackled and found himself fall to the ground with a warm body above him. She pushed him to the ground and had this little, sexy smirk on her lips which somehow excited the shinobi who grinned at her confidence.  
"I win."

His heartbeat quickened when he felt her hips dangerously near his crotch and swallowed because -_damn_\- she felt good. Dangerously good.  
_Almost too good for his and her own good.  
_  
But then, out of nowhere, the unthinkable happened.

Naruto heard a quite noise and acted immediately by flipping her body around and pressing her to the ground to shield her from three kunais that were thrown in their direction.  
"What the hell..?!"  
The ninjas got up quickly and waited for more attacks while looking for the attackers, backs touching and bodies alarmed. Dozens of weapons were flying at their direction, obviously trying to kill them fast as Naruto and Ino blocked every single weapon with their kunais. They actually wanted to capture the strangers to investigate them, however, their enemies didn't stop with their assaults so they didn't really have a choice.

"Okay, I don't have time for this bullshit!"  
Ino reached out with both her arms and formed her strongest hand seal to use the kekkei genkai she mastered thanks to some intense training with the Yamanaka Clan.  
"I'll cover you, Ino!", Naruto assured whom she trusted without any concern.  
Ino closed her eyes to take a few minutes to concentrate and detect the chakra sources which really took a while for the blonde because whoever attacked them knew well to cover their chakra excellently. The veins around her eyes pulsated, her heart beat strongly against her chest as she breathed calmly, before she finally opened her glowing eyes.

"Mind destruction!"

Within five seconds Ino felt how she controlled four ninjas and Naruto blinked unsure about the way how Ino's hands were violently shaking, as if she was carrying the world with them.  
"Holy fuck, they're tough..!", she grunted.  
"Come on, Naruto… _URGH_-… Finish them off now!"  
Nodding, Naruto obeyed to her command and didn't need long to find the attackers and end their life quickly. It was really shocking to him that some robbers managed to get that close to their place.

"Ino? Are you okay?", the worried ninja asked and saw her nod, even though she was sweating from exhaustion.  
"Yeah, I'm okay.", she panted, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "Those were some tough bastards. Really gotta hand it to them..."  
The Yamanaka actually gave it her all and wasted a lot of chakra which didn't happen that often. She want to Naruto to inspect the dead bodies whereas the Yamanaka tilted her head in confusion.  
Those guys didn't look like typical robbers to her for all of them wore headbands like every other ninja in this world.  
However, there was nothing carved into their headbands, making it impossible to find out which village had sent them. The piece of metal was just blank and it didn't take long for Ino to know who those guys were.

"Naruto, these bastards aren't just average robbers..."  
"WHAT?"  
_But this couldn't be...- _

"Hey! Naruto, Ino!"

The two blond shinobis turned around and saw Sakura, Tenten and Kiba who all looked riled up and exhausted.  
"Thank God, you're okay!", Kiba said relieved when he saw them, confusing the ninjas even more.  
Their clothes were dirty and torn, their chakra depleted and their faced more than troubled which only leaded to one conclusion…

A fight.

"Okay, what the fuck just happened?!", Naruto demanded angrily, looking at the pink haired leader who was still upset and exhausted.  
"We were attacked...", Tenten panted, still trying to calm down after the last incident.  
"And the attackers came from another village..!"

.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Well hellooooo and thank you for reading the third chapter of my unfortunately not too spectacular fanfic. Sorry about that, but I need to build up the plot but I promise, even if my English isn't perfect, you're gonna love it!  
Also, as you can see, my version of Ino and co and their abilities are a little different :D  
I did that on purpose because… I dunno, it's a fanfic and I like their new powers lol  
Guys, I'm so exhausted. I became a Zumba Instructor a few months ago and now, I give Zumba lessons 7 times every week!  
I'm so happy, but damn, my legs are still shaking :,D

Well, I hope you liked this chapter and forgive me my typos hehe

with love  
Fifi-Uchiha 3 


	4. Speculation

„An ambush..." Tenten panted, still feeling dizzy and exhausted from the fight.  
"They were ninja from another village."  
Naruto raised a brow, seemed confused about the brunette's assumption.  
"What?!" Ino asked angrily and more than alarmed.  
"Are you all okay? Any injuries I need to heal?"  
"No, no, we're alright," Sakura waved off with a calming smile and moved her eyes to the four bodies. Her green orbs narrowed when she eyed the blank metal of their headbands because she was aware what that meant.  
"Why do you think they were ninja from another village?" Naruto asked the obvious question, didn't see how his friend would think that.  
"Well…," Sakura started, looking at her best friend.  
"Just look at their headbands, Naruto. They're blank."  
The pinkette pointed at the covered head of one of the dead ninjas.  
"Ninjas with blank headbands are known for being spies from other villages who travel to other places to gain information… or to cause trouble. Like beginning a fight or assassinate a prey. They didn't carve any symbol on their headbands to cover their heritage so they can hide where they're from."  
The fox ninja nodded understandingly and heard how Ino slapped her forehead.  
"Oh fuck!" she exclaimed. "And we totally killed those motherfuckers!"  
"AAAH! Dammit, you're right, dattebayo!"

"It's alright," Tenten appeased, trying to calm everyone down whereas Kiba nodded.  
"Yeah. 'Cause we know who's behind that sneaky shit."  
"We do?" Naruto asked incredulously. "Who was it?"  
"What do you think? Those Konoha-bastards, who else?", the brown haired ninja barked.  
"But why?", the pinkette leader wondered and earned looks that basically screamed '_Seriously_?''  
"Uhm… because they're _bastards_..?" Naruto offered her, as if it were too obvious not no notice.  
"I'm aware," the pinkette deadpanned dryly.  
"I just mean… It's not like them. After all, Uchiha Sasuke declared war and even set a damn DATE, shannaro! Why would they attack us? Bastards or not, Konoha doesn't fight dirty."  
Sakura really couldn't think of a plan that Sasuke might followed, as much as she tried.  
"Why blank headbands though? Everyone knows that Konoha declared war, so why would he cover up an assassination mission? " she continued.  
"There's no reason for them to hide, wouldn't you agree?"

"Maybe they did it so other villagers won't recognize them and warn us?" Tenten offered who still understood where Sakura was coming from.  
"I think Kiba's right, though. Konoha-nins are known for being manipulative and sneaky fighters who like to discover their rivals weak points and disable them before a fight."  
Ino nodded, made it obvious that she too shared her theory.  
"Totally agree. They want to destroy us from the inside."  
Her blue eyes lingered on the dead bodies and Ino scoffed smugly, folding her arms before her chest.  
"Well, they tried, I'll give them that."

"I guess you're right," the pinkette sighed, accepting of the only logical explanation.  
Of course Konoha would use dirty tricks to weaken Timea and demonstrate their power, of course they would try to kill the most powerful ninjas of her homeland.  
_God, that Uchiha was one hell of a bastard, shannaro! _  
"However, we need to make sure to keep unexpected guests outside Timea. I think we should send Rayo and his team to guard the borders."  
"I'll tell him as soon as I can," Kiba promised, earning a thankful smile from his comrade.  
"Thank you, Kiba."

"Okay guys, we should go back and rest, dattebayo"  
A loud yawn escaped his lips and Naruto stretches his arms, making it more than obvious how tired he was.  
"Naruto's right. Come on, tomorrow's a big day- MPH!"  
To Sakura's surprise, Tenten covered the Yamanaka's mouth with her hand, choking her in the process which looked pretty hilarious to her, however, she raised her brows in astonishment because Tenten was actually a calm person in general.

"Well… yeah. We should rest. All of us need to sleep, the shades under our eyes look scary to be honest,", Kiba smiled before he and Naruto grabbed Sakura and pulled her towards the camp.  
And Sakura could've sworn that she heard Tenten calling Ino a blabbering waterwall…

"But I'm hungry, shannaro!"  
.

.

.

…

Sakura was a passionate , hotheaded fighter through and through, however, there were days were she worked as a medic in Timea-gakure. During those days, she worked with Rin Sensei, Ino and other medics to help injured and ill people who were far more important than training to her. But she still didn't understand why Naruto and Tenten forced her to spend her time in the hospital even though there weren't any emergency that needed her special attention.  
_Were they trying to get rid of her?  
_  
"Whooo, look who I found!"  
The female leader turned to the sudden male voice and immediately recognized the attractive face of Leo, a good looking, brown haired playboy she knew for years.  
That guy wasn't just an exceptional shinobi with impressive strength, he was also capable of handling every single surgery which required perfect precision. He was a master surgeon and saved thousands without breaking a single sweat which made him one of the most valuable members of Timea's army.

"Leo. Good to see you, I really need those chakra results of patient 233-"  
"I already took care of him and told him he's free to go, pinky. I stitched him up so good, he even started his training session,", he interrupted with a big grin on his face.  
"Oh wow, uhm… _wow_," the pinkette stammered impressed, making her way to the next patient with Leo by her side. "I mean, that's really impressive, Leo. You're a real pro."  
"You know what else is impressive, pinky?", the latter asked.  
"That a woman like you doesn't have good enough taste to spend a few nice hours with a man like me. I can't be the only one who feels the sexual tension between us."  
_Oh for God's sake, not again. _  
"Hey Leo? You like your penis, right?"  
Hearing those calm words, Leo blinked a few times, looking totally surprised about that question.  
"Yeah..?"  
"Would you still like it If I cut it off and stuffed it down your throat?"

.  
.

"No-"  
"Yeaaah, that's what I thought. But that's exactly what's going to happen should you ever call me 'pinky' again, champ," she explained matter of factly.  
"And by the way, I'm not your type," she waved off, looking unimpressed while she kept walking, earning a dumbfounded look from the brunette.  
"Sakura. _Women_ ARE my type!"  
"Forget it."

"Ah, come on! One night with me and you're world will _shake_."  
"I already told you, I'm not gonna sleep with you,", was her dry reply, sounding disinterested.  
"More important, how did you manage all those surgeries? I mean… staying up for three days must be pretty hard even for you."  
Sakura tried to change the subject, however, Leo snickered lowly, giving her a devilish grin.  
"You wanna know what _else_ is hard..?"  
"Hey! Careful, Romeo. Shut it," Sakura warned.  
"Sakura, come on. I find you really hot and you know I can't concentrate with thoughts like that. Give me one night."

"You know who else is hot? My _girlfriend_," the pinkette claimed whereas Leo looked comically surprised.  
_Wait… Did that mean..? _  
"You're right, Leo. I'm a lesbian. Totally gay," she confirmed Leo's thoughts.  
"And my gay, mannish, rough girlfriend Earl -_yes, her name is Earl_\- really wouldn't appreciate a man like you coming at me like that. She likes to get out her metal hammer and smash every guys head who approaches me. You know, after she started taking those pills and since she got that new penis and her voice started changing, she seems a little energetic. Such an attractive trait…," Sakura raved, acting like a girl in love.  
Leo looked totally shocked, not knowing if his comrade was joking or not.  
"Now If you excuse me, I gotta go. My patient is waiting."

Before Leo could utter any words, the kunoichi turned around and kept walking, leaving the tall shinobi behind who just stared at her retreating back in astonishment.  
She shock was written all over his face because that was the last thing Leo could've ever expected. He then walked to his next patient, shaking his head disbelievingly.

.

.  
"Earl..?"  
…..

"Oh my God, Sakura, you're here. The only person next to Tenten I respect."

Yamanaka Ino was one of the most powerful kunoichis of Timea who possessed healing abilities that every ninja barely could dream of. The blonde joined the army a year ago and helped Sakura with her knowledge about medical nin-jutsu.  
And right now, the Yamanaka was trying to take care of Shino who suffered from a severe injury.  
"Goddammit, Shino! How in the world did you manage to ram that nail through your palm, shannaro?!"  
The nail impaled his Hand completely and to all that, it was stuck in a big piece of wood which looked really painful.  
"I just wanted to help building a new cottage…," was Shino's quite, apologetic explanation whereas Sakura nodded, noting every word down.

"It's okay, Shino. We'll deal with that..."  
Fast and with perfect precision, Sakura pushed two specific areas on Shino's palm which caused his skin to glow in a soft green right before Shino felt no pain anymore which made Ino give Sakura a proud smirk.  
"Seriously, forehead. Your chakra-blocking is fucking crazy."  
"Heh, you're making me blush, Ino-pig. Thanks," Sakura replied with her cheeks indeed becoming a little redder.  
To be honest, the sarcastic, moody, scaring Ino wasn't known for giving anyone compliments, moreover, the blonde kunoichi only shared her soft side with her female members if her group.  
And her patients of course.

"Hey guys, you won't believe what just hap- Oh my _God_, this is _**disgusting**_."  
Kiba suddenly appeared and he seemed caught off guard after he realized how grotesque Shino's injury looked.  
"What the...-"  
"Oh, don't worry, it looks worse than it actually is. I just blocked his chakra and numbed his pain and due to the fortunate fact that his bones weren't pierced in the process-"  
Sakura stopped when Ino and her witnessed Kiba breathing heavily, his eyes becoming a little too… heavy as dizziness was making him weaker and weaker with each second.

"Oh Lord, she's losing consciousness. Let's show her the bloody side!" Ino smirked who just loved teasing the shinobi whenever she could which was the reason why she hold Shino's numb, injured hand and started to wave right in front oh his face.  
"Well look at that, Tina, that's his palm nailed to this bloody piece of wood. Look close, it's bleeding like hell, it SNAPPED like a bitch! Look at it, touch it, LICK THE TIP!"

Kiba's dizziness worsened and not a second later, the poor ninja fainted and fall straight in the floor, not seeing Sakura's pitiful smile when Ino started laughing at him.  
"Why are you always so _mean_ to him?", she jokingly demanded whereas Ino simply shrugged.  
"She's gotta learn how to deal with tough situations,", Ino answered, not showing any remorse as she grabbed her bloody glove and threw it at Kiba's head.  
"Don't you worry about her, she'll be arlight."

.

…..…

"Rayo is up to something."

Naruto and Tenten were walking through the market, looking for a birthday gift for Sakura who had no idea that her team was planning to surprise her with a little party.  
With the war coming nearer with each passing day, the group knew that enjoying their last days in peace and freedom were valuable, not to mention that Sakura would never think about her own birthday in times like this. She was a dedicated leader and didn't care about anything but building a beautiful village without any dangers from outside.

"Rayo? What do you mean?" Tenten asked with a raised brow.  
"Did you two have a fight again?"  
"No, not this time," Naruto grinned sheepishly, knowing that he had to be calmer and more mature. But Rayo made it really hard for him, so she shouldn't blame him for that.  
"I don't know, he's really weird lately, dattebayo."  
"He always is."  
"I know. But I just… I don't know, I'm getting more and more bitch vibes from that. I just don't trust him, ya know?"  
Tenten listened to him patiently, waited until he was done and tilted her head to look at him directly.  
"Naruto, he's a timea-nin, a shinobi who fought with us against horrible enemies. He's a bastard, there's no doubt here, but you shouldn't think too much about him. What's the worst he can do? Shout and scream at us?"  
Naruto scoffed and knew she was right. Maybe he really was reading too much into it.

"Come on, tell me what else is bugging you," she suddenly demanded, earning a surprised look.  
"You've been acting really strange this morning. Is there anything you want to tell me?"  
Naruto seemed a little off this morning which was uncommon for the fox ninja who's usually in such a good mood that even a war couldn't change it.  
"You dodged Sakura's question earlier, Naruto, but I'm a little more persistent. Tell me."  
"Heh. You ability to read people is getting better and better. Kinda scary," he joked.  
Tenten didn't get distracted and folded her arms before her chest, waiting for Naruto to tell her about his problem without saying much.  
"I'll take it as a compliment," she commented dryly, making him laugh.  
"It was."  
Naruto sighed because he knew that keeping everything bottled up wasn't actually his piece of cake. It just didn't suit him, so he gave up and started giving her the answer that he denied his pink haired best friend.

"Well, I had a few bad nights, is all", he started and didn't see the confusion in her face.  
"What do you mean? Can't you sleep properly?" she pressed which caused Naruto to lool dejected.  
"No. I'm having those weird dreams… about Sakura, dattebayo..-"  
"Sex dreams?"  
Immediately, Narutos entire face flamed of shame, his cheeks were a burning red and he looked like he saw a ghost.  
"ARE YOU _CRAZY_?" he shrieked, making Tenten close her hurting ear.  
_He __definitely__ knew how to hollow, really. _  
"I do NOT HAVE sex dreams of Sakura, of course! That would be disgusting, dattebayo!"  
Seriously, they were like brother and sister, Naruto would _never_ dare to see Sakura like… like a woman he could desire!

_Disgusting! _

"Calm down, calm down, it was just a question. Jeez…," Tenten shrugged off his screams of terror. However, it was kind of interesting to see that even Uzumaki Naruto could feel immense shame and the brunette made sure to remember that next time he would mess with her.  
"What kind of dreams are haunting you then?" she asked the obvious question which made Naruto look dejected again.

"Well… I saw her crying," ha started thoughtfully.  
"More than that, she was crying, sobbing as if someone ripped her heart out, Tenten. She didn't say anything, I just saw her crying her eyes out, she seemed so...-"  
There weren't words accurate enough to describe the sadness and the bitterness in Sakura's eyes, not to mention the countless tears she shed.  
"And she looked different, dattebayo," he added a little confused.  
"What do you mean 'different'?"  
"Her hair was much shorter than now. It reached her shoulders and-"  
"She had short hair when she was 16, Naruto. Maybe-"  
This time, Naruto interrupted her.

"No, that's not it."  
Naruto knew that Sakuta preferred to wear her hair short when she was 16 because it didn't bother her during training sessions. Apparently, she found it more practical like that, but she let it grow again.

"This Sakura from my dream wasn't 16. I'd say she was about 23 or 24 years old. But that's not all," he said, finding those dreams even more suspect when he talked about them.  
"Her clothes were also different. In my dreams, Sakura wore a green dress and… I don't know, Tenten, but it looked like this Sakura came from another… village?"  
What really bugged him was the fact that seeing this version of Sakura kind of felt.. _familiar_.  
"Sakura never wears dresses, Tenten. And the way she cried… It broke my heart, dattebayo..."

That picture, that showed Sakura who seemed so bitter, so horribly sad and broken had burnt itself into his brain, clouding his mind like a thick fog.  
_She was sitting on the green grass, her skin far too pale, her dry lips shaking and her orbs red and wet from all those burning tears she __had__ shed. Her sobs were so intense, so loud and broken that it made it impossible for her to say a single word.  
The young woman seemed alone, broken, as If someone burnt her whole world, taken everything and everyone that was important to her.  
But he couldn't do anything to help her, Naruto couldn't reach out to Sakura.  
_

"Hey, don't beat yourself up," Tenten comforted him, giving him a soft pat on his back.  
"Sakura is stressed because of her secret leadership, not to mention that Uchiha Sasuke declared war. It's a fact that Sakura doesn't live like the average woman, that might be the reason why she wore a dress in your dreams", she offered him a simple explanation.  
"I mean, we all are pretty worked up, Naruto. Try to relax once in a while and don't pay too much attention to your nightmares. They're just dreams that have nothing to do with reality."

Naruto took in a deep breath and sighed, finally accepting Tenten's comfort and gave her a thanking smile.  
"Thanks, Tenten", the Uzumaki grinned.

"No need to thank me. I really don't like you being too serious and sad. Now come on, we have to hurry before Sakura finds out about the birthday party."  
_Oh. Right, that was happening right now.  
_  
"Ah, shit, you're right! Ino's gonna _behead_ us if we don't make it in time!"  
If there was one thin Naruto and Tenten feared from the bottom of their hearts…  
_It was Yamanaka Ino's temper. _  
.

.

.

…..

Soundless and secretly, a brown haired shinobi sneaked through the darkness over the borders in the empty land between Konoha and Timea, a land that belonged no one. However, the shinobi wasn't running away from the upcoming war for he was about to meet one of the most powerful ninja in the word, without paying a single thought to the horrendous treasure he was about to commit.  
His eyes flashed angrily over the mere thought of the_ oh so mighty _leader of Timea, which was nothing but a facade of a little, weak woman.  
_A girl. _

He still couldn't fathom the mere idea of _her_ being the great leader.  
The dark haired ninja couldn't believe that it was_ Haruno Sakura _who made herself the leader and actually acted like one. A weak woman had it in her to betray not only her own army, but also every other village who respected Timea's new power without giving even the slightest suspicions.  
Who in the world would've ever thought a woman without any special traits or power could create a whole army?  
_He sure didn't. _

It was a real challenge to sneak away from the others, however, the traitorous ninja didn't care at all. No, his goal lay right behind the borders of Konoha-gakure, the village that declared war without giving at least a single reason, much less an explanation.

"Behold!"

Suddenly, the shinobi was surrounded, facing three ninjas who seemed alarmed and ready to fight and it didn't take an expert to know that these men belonged to Konoha's guards.  
The brown haired ninja showed no fear whatsoever nor was he scared in any way because he was here for a reason, a plan he had in mind.

"I am a shinobi from Timea," he introduced himself and he could saw their narrowing gazes.  
After all, they were a few days left until war which made it more than understandable that his sudden visit was not appreciated.  
"What do you want?", one of the guards hissed, making him roll his eyes.  
_God, that was so annoying.  
_  
"I have to talk to your hokage," the shinobi demanded without showing emotion.  
"There is something I need to tell him. You could say… interesting information."  
For a moment they seemed to consider his words but suddenly, the shinobi felt a strong chakra signature. Another ninja appeared, walking towards the new visitor as he watched him with light eyes that were shining in the same color as the moon.  
Pearl colored eyes were watching him like a hawk, the man seemed to analyze him with obvious distrust. He wore white clothing, his blown hair was long and his skin pale.  
However, his light eyes were enough for him to know who he was dealing with.  
_Definitely a Hyuuga.  
Hyuuga Neji. _

"What would a timea-nin possibly want from us?", Neji directly asked, analyzing the stranger with narrowed eyes to make sure this wasn't a hidden ambush.  
"Or are you the mysterious leader of Timea..?"  
"You are mistaken. I am not our leader," the brown haired ninja immediately denied.  
"I came to talk to Uchiha Sasuke," he continued, not a bit backing down.  
"For what reason exactly?", Neji asked with calm distrust.  
"If you want to talk about the fight, then I have to disappoint you. Sasuke-sama won't change is mind, you would just waste valuable time."

"I believe what I have to say to your hokage is of high importance," he pressed.  
"There is no reason for you to distrust me for I have left my homeland."  
Neji saw no lies nor regrets in his eyes but for some reason he still believed him.

"What would your hokage say If I told him that the identity of Timea's leader is no longer a well hidden secret..?"  
Hearing those words, Neji widened his eyes, seeming surprised for he was told that no one knew the real name of the all mighty leader of Timea, not even their own army.  
_Could it be a trap? A foul trick to attack Konoha? _  
No, he doubted that. Timea was far too powerful and smart to send a single ninja, that wouldn't make any sense.  
That's why Neji finally nodded, accepting the ninja's offer.

"What is your dame?" Neji demanded with controlled voice whereas the stranger gave him a little smirk.

"My name is Rayo..."  
.

.

.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Alright… I did it.  
I kicked my butt and I… well… yeah, I tried, okay?  
I don't feel good about this, I don't like my english chapters but I still want to share my stories with my SasuSaku family and… yeah.  
I know it's still a little boring and all but TRUST me-  
Things are gonna be crazy.

Xoxo  
Fifi-Uchiha!


End file.
